Regarding rejections

[TheWordPoet]

I am new here, and I posted an article on poetry: Where to Start When Trying to Write a Poem. I was told I needed revising before they can accept the article. Is this a rejection? or a fair opportunity to revise before it becomes rejected? Also, what is an odt file type? They said they do not accept odt file types, obviously my article was one, but I have no idea what an odt file type is! Also, since I am new here, I have a question about striking out(3 times)...if after 3 times am I permanently out, or is it a fair warning kind of a thing to better my writing? As well, regarding bettering my writing, do you folks offer aide in this regard, in the process of bettering my writing, or am I to somehow find out what is wrong, and do it myself, which would be difficult since I would have missed the errors the first time, finding them for revision would be hard unless told where the errors are...get it?

[Debbi]

ODT files are files saved in Open Office. Constant Content only accepts .doc, .txt., or .rtf files. Save your article in one of these formats and you'll be ok as far as file type goes. Make sure the font is Times New Roman or Arial 12 point and that paragraphs are single-spaced and separated by a double-space.

Asking for a revision is a nice way of saying that your article was rejected but CC would like to see it once you've fixed the errors included in the rejection notice. The "3 strikes, you're out" rule is flexible and is usually reserved for those authors who refuse to adapt to CC's rules or who are not ready to write for the site.

Constant Content is not set up as a site for beginning writers. We are all expected to be able to recognize errors and fix them ourselves, as well as conform to the strict guidelines and expectations of the CC Editorial staff.

Read all the writer's guidelines, FAQs, and every forum post you can manage to see how Constant Content works and don't be afriad to ask questions

[jadedragon]

Welcome TheWordPoet. I could likely use your article since I can't write poetry to save my life. I made it through 16 years of English classes on the strength of my prose not my poetry.

Debbi gives good advice. I'll add a couple points to hopefully help you out.

I realize your first article is about poetry, and that is OK, but I just wanted to point out that poetry itself is not acceptable for submission on CC. Simple reason is that poetry does not sell well.

It sounds like your rejection was for file type. If you submit an unsupported file type the editor likely stopped and rejected it right there without reading the article. The reason for the limited list of supported fonts and file types is so the buyers can be assured of the ability to use the files we sell.

I can't tell you now if you can be successful on CC. I can say that your forum post contains a number of grammatical, capitalization and punctuation errors. No one is grading forum posts (thank goodness too) and we can be more informal in the forum, but if you can't see your own errors in the post you are not going to be able to work with CC. Give yourself a little test that will not cost you a strike - repost your same question with zero errors here in this thread. I'm sure several of the authors will check it for you and give you feedback. Check the thread on Self Editing for Success for many helpful tips. All the successful authors here submit article after self edited error free article (though we all miss something occasionally).

It is hard to get into CC but WELL worth it when you see what articles sell for here. Good luck

[TheWordPoet]

Thank you all for your replies, as for the errors in my post, I was not going for any grade of sorts, and simply wanted help, which all your replies were helpful. As for Constant Content, is there any way I can in the future write my article here as a post, and you guys help me out with corrections before I submit it? Is this possible? I do need the help a bit, I could post my poetry article here and maybe you all can see why it was rejected. Thanks again.

[HayleyWriter]

You can submit small portions of it to the Constructive Criticism thread in the Authors Exchange section of the forum. Just be aware that the forums are searched by search engines and you do not want to post the entire article there.

Kind regards,

Hayley